Shadowing the Brutality and Cruelty of Nature: On History and Human Nature in Princess Mononoke

In the Japanese animated movie Princess Mononoke (1997), humanity’s relationship with nature is commented upon historically by the movie’s director Miyazaki Hayao. Against the backdrop of Japan in the Muromachi period covered with ancient forests and inhabited by marginalized societies in conflict, the movie functions as a speculative fictional tool for Miyazaki to communicate and demonstrate an important historical and historiographic idea to the audience. Going against the romantic and nativist notion that humanity has lost its historical connection and harmony with nature, a major narrative theme in Princess Mononoke is the idea that the relationship between humanity and nature has throughout history always been cruel and brutal, and humans have never been able to fully live in harmony with nature.